People of Botswana are generally interested to give their opinions to the members of parliament. Such opportunities are wanted online and offline, with inline input being in favour. The participation platform focuses on mobile devices as communication and internet penetration is mostly based on mobile technology but also from telecommunication-centres in villages. Direct website input or SMS input, both is possible as well as offline input. The implementation of this project is accompanied with training for all stakeholders. The pilot phase was successful and the open stage started only weeks ago. The project was initiated by a team member in discussions with town chiefs and the great interest in technology by an MP.

Voice of the People or Cybercratic Centralism? The italian case of Beppe Grillo and Movimento Cinque Stelle – Five Stars Movement

Rosanna De Rosa

During the last decade, Pepe Grillo became person of international interest. With his blog being one of the most powerful ones worldwide, he moved into politics. Reasons behind the success are, among others: politics focused on internal issues, social media popularity, and crisis. The members of parliament from the Five Stars Movement do not resemble traditional lists; just as the people voting for Grillo do not resemble the traditional populist and protest voters. Still, the number of people that didn’t vote is high and not even Grillo could reduce this number considerably. The current demand for liquid democracy in parts of the Five Stars Movement is to reduce Grillo’s influence on his MPs.

Bravehearts or tim’rous beasties?

Graeme Baxter

The research team researched on the usage of all web communication tools by political parties over ten years. Information about candidates is difficult the get and direct interaction is limited. Space for direct interaction has hardly been provided by parties. Since 2007 less formats of information provision have been supported. The research team collected a lot of data and the analysis can be read in the conference proceedings. …